This is a stream of consciousness so ignore all the mistakes. It is a simplified response to something that really made me scratch my head. You see when everything first started closing down due to this global pandemic I recall thinking that this is the “new 9/11.” Hear me out on this and the countries reactions to both from my point of view.
September 11, 2001 started off pretty normally for me I was preparing for Morning Announcements at school when I recall how, but I saw something about the first plane. I went to one of the TV’s near the office and turned it on so that the office staff could keep up with what was happening. While walking by that TV I saw the second plane – My first thought was it was a clip from some new action movie. From that point on it was a whirl. If I recall correctly since the kids didn’t know, it was decided that we would “act normally” and let each family discuss it in a manner that they chose. Being the Technology Coordinator for the building I spent the rest of my time sending updates out to the staff from various news sites so they wouldn’t be wondering about what was going on. Four planes that changed the world.
Before 9/11 there wasn’t a Dept. of Homeland Security or a TSA. Before 9/11 security checks at airports meant you quickly walked through a metal detector and your bag went through an x-ray machine. You could meet people at the gate as they got off the plane. You could bring a bottle of water through security. You didn’t have to take your shoes or belt off. When things started to change and rules were enacted I remember people were annoyed, but it was something we all put up with to make sure air travel was safe. The world changed they way they did things. We worked together to come up with a solution. We changed and things got safer. I still grumble a bit about flying, but I acknowledge the reasoning behind the inconvenience and am will for the greater good to just do it.
Imagine if people reacted the way they are for COVID-19 on 9/11. After a quick security check we’d reopen all the airports after an hour or two. Each airport would be responsible for how they dealt with security, those larger airports doing more than the smaller ones. We would not have nationalized airport security. Half the population would comply to whatever the airports asked them to do, the other half would claim their freedoms were being attacked because they had to take off their shoes. No one claimed the other political party planned the whole thing to bring down the president. No one said that the planes really didn’t hit the towers, that the numbers of deaths were inflated (You know any death that happened on 9/11 was counted, even if it had nothing to do with it- a person dies of natural causes in Ohio- it was 9/11), or that 99% of people in the buildings actually got out safely. Yes, there were conspiracy theories, but most were ignored until we had taken care of everyone.
What happened in between 9/11 and now? How did we get this messed up? in 2001 as a country we pulled together and comforted each other. We didn’t fight each other over wearing a mask in public. Did everyone like the president? No, but when it came to this, we got a clear message from Washington, not being spun to try a sway an election. No one even considered that the message was political. Politics for a time were taken off the table. A short time but still a moment of peace. We acted like adults. Why is that so difficult? Just because we can’t see what’s going on? Just because there isn’t a big explosion?
The big question is- when this is all over (and at some point it will either be over, or we will adapt) what will the new normal be? I’m not sure, because right now all we have are people clinging to the old normal and hoping that the problem will all disappear if we just wish hard enough. Unfortunately adults know wishes don’t always come true.
For the record, I did not formally research anything, it is strictly from my memories and observations, I’m sure I’ve got some things wrong- but this is my little world and you don’t have to live in it if you don’t want to. Your mileage may vary.